The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a new program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that aims to expand the infrastructure needed to keep electric vehicles charged.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
The White House also highlighted actions from several companies to help expand access to EV chargers, including Tesla's decision to open at least 7,500 stations in its U.S. Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla vehicles by the end of 2024.
"All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website," the White House said in a statement. "Additionally, Tesla will more than double its full nationwide network of Superchargers, manufactured in Buffalo, New York."
Hertz and bp, meanwhile, plan to build a national network of fast-charging stations designed to serve rideshare, tax drivers, car rental customers, and the general public near "high-demand locations, such as airports."
The White House also championed efforts by companies such as General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Cars, and Starbucks to expand the EV charging network.
The administration said all of these initiatives support President Joe Biden's goal of making electric vehicles 50 percent of all auto sales by 2030. In 2022, they made up about 10 percent of all sales.
Skype users are scrambling to find an alternative after Microsoft shut down the pioneering internet phone service which let people make cheap long distance calls and chat with other users. Google Voice lets users make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser but it's only available to people in the U.S. Viber users can call phone numbers but can't get a number to receive calls. Zoom offers phone options too. You could get a number from a low cost virtual carrier or try other internet phone services. Microsoft says some Skype features will migrate to Teams, but its Teams Phone feature is only for businesses.
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Shares of Deliveroo, the food delivery service based in London, are hitting three-year highs on Monday after it received a $3.6 billion proposed takeover offer from DoorDash.
