Shake-up will help UK motorists without driveways to charge EVs
Households without off-street parking could soon be able to charge their electric vehicles from home under new government plans to help households cut their need for expensive fossil fuels.The government has promised to pass legislation this summer that will allow motorists to run power cables through a charging “gully” built into the pavement outside their home without the need for planning permission.This means that before the end of this year, EV owners who are not able to fit their own car chargers at home will be able to charge up from the power connection indoors.Motorists are not allowed to string charging cables across the pavement from their home but almost half of councils across the UK allow cross-pavement charging if you embed the cable in a gully.However, this still requires permission from the council.
Charging at home is usually much cheaper than using public car charge points, meaning more motorists may be willing to trade in their petrol and diesel cars for an electric alternative if they know they can access cheaper electricity more easily,This is partly because public charging has a VAT rate of 20% while home energy includes VAT at 5%,ChargeUK, the trade body for the charging industry, said equalising VAT would help ensure that motorists who cannot charge at home even after the planning changes would not be unfairly penalised,The legislation is part of a string of measures to help protect households from the soaring cost of energy since the Middle East war disrupted supplies of crude, gas and fuels from the Gulf,Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said the “overwhelming lesson of this crisis is we need to go faster” on the government’s plans to reduce the UK’s reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets.
“Because every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we build, every heat pump we install, every EV on the road makes our country more secure,” he told the Good Growth Foundation’s National Growth Debate on Tuesday.The government has also promised to make it easier to install solar panels and heat pumps.This summer it will consult on changes to permitted development rights to make it easier to install air source heat pumps, particularly in flats, and on plans for low-income households to benefit from plug-in solar through the Warm Homes Plan.Demand for solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps has leapt since the war began as households brace for a sharp increase in monthly energy bills when the next energy price cap takes effect in the summer.Octopus Energy, the country’s biggest energy supplier, said its heat pump orders had more than doubled in March compared with February, while sales of solar power systems were up by almost 80%.
The supplier said new leases of electric vehicles rose by more than 85% over the same period.In a boost to EV sales, the price of battery electric cars has fallen below petrol cars in the UK for the first time, according to the car sales website Autotrader.
Who is John Ternus, Apple’s next CEO?
Apple has announced longtime company veteran John Ternus as the next CEO of the company, succeeding the current CEO, Tim Cook, who is set to transition to executive chair of Apple’s board of directors later this year.Ternus’s term as CEO will begin on 1 September. The hardware engineering executive is a longtime Apple insider, indicating the company will stay the course that has led to record profits under Cook’s leadership. Apple’s yearly profit now tops $100bn, and in January it announced record revenue from its iPhones, boosted by renewed demand in China.“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a company press release
Fifteen years after Steve Jobs, Tim Cook leaves a dramatically different Apple
After 15 years, Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple’s top executive. At age 65, he leaves behind a hardware juggernaut that, under his leadership, brought about a global smartphone revolution and transformed Apple into one of the most profitable publicly traded companies in history.With a reputation for logistical management, Cook first joined Apple in 1998, overseeing its worldwide sales and operations. In 2009, he temporarily began running day-to-day operations when the company’s legendary co-founder, Steve Jobs, took medical leave due to complications from pancreatic cancer. In 2011, just a few months before Jobs’s death, Cook took over as CEO
Tim Cook to step down as Apple chief as John Ternus named replacement
Apple announced on Monday that it had named a replacement for Tim Cook as CEO after nearly 15 years, with head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding him on 1 September. Cook will stay at the company in the role of executive chair.“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in a press release.Cook, 65, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has been CEO since 2011
Sonos Play review: a great jack-of-all-trades portable speaker for home or away
The Play is a new portable wifi and Bluetooth home speaker that packs the best of Sonos into a jack of all trades that is intended to be a reset point in the company’s recovery from its app debacle that lost it faith, favour and a chief executive.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.It is the first truly new music speaker since Sonos launched its new app in May 2024, which junked fan-favourite features while causing stability and usage problems for new and old customers alike
How a fiery attack on Sam Altman’s home unfolded
In the early hours of 10 April, a man approached the gate of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house in San Francisco and hurled a molotov cocktail at the building before fleeing. The suspect, 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama, was arrested less than two hours later while allegedly attempting to break into the headquarters of OpenAI with a jug of kerosene, a lighter and an anti-AI manifesto.Federal and California state authorities have charged Moreno-Gama with a range of crimes including attempted arson and attempted murder. His parents issued a statement this week saying that their son had recently suffered a mental health crisis. Moreno-Gama, who has not yet entered a plea, faces up to life in prison if convicted
Kenyan firm sacks more than 1,000 workers after losing Meta contract
More than 1,000 low-paid workers in Kenya have been abruptly sacked by an outsourcing company contracted by Meta, in what activists said was a shocking move exposing the precariousness of tech jobs in the global south.Sama, a company based in Nairobi to which Meta outsourced content moderation and AI training work, announced on Thursday that the workers were being laid off after Meta terminated a contract.Last month reports said some Kenyan workers involved in data annotation were asked to view content filmed using Meta’s AI smart glasses showing wearers using the toilet or having sex.The sacked workers, many involved in AI training, have been given six days’ notice, according to the Oversight Lab, an organisation that advocates for fair regulation and deployment of technology across Africa. It said it was advising the workers on legal options
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