The tide is high, but submerged kites off the shore of the Faroe Islands are holdin’ on.

The kites are part of the Faroe Islands Space Program, which consists of three kites connected to the seabed by subsea cables. Fitted with generators, the kites collect energy from the underwater currents and tides as they move in a figure 8 pattern. That energy then travels through the subsea cables to transformers on the shore of the Faroe Islands, an archipelago that’s a territory of Denmark.

The project is the brainchild of Minesto, a Swedish tidal energy company. When complete, the program will consist of six kites with infrastructure connected to the islands’ electrical grid, which will provide energy to locals. It’s dubbed the Faroe Islands Space Program because tides are considered a lunar resource.

“As long as the moon stays in its orbit,” Minesto CEO Martin Edlund told Tech Brew, “we are in production mode.”

That means tidal energy is an always-on renewable, or a baseload form of energy. The energy itself is kinetic, harvested from the intensity of water flow, and Minesto’s tidal technology can collect energy from low flow tides as well as higher, more powerful currents.

“We use the same principle as kite flying, but we do it submerged in the water,” Edlund said. “We fly on the linear movement of the ocean.”

Keep reading here.—TC

US consumers flocked to car dealerships in April as the specter of tariff-induced price increases loomed.

Cox Automotive analysts said that new-vehicle sales rose compared to April 2024, and JD Power estimated that buyers snapped up an extra 139,000 vehicles last month as they sought to get ahead of higher prices.

In the electrified vehicle market, hybrids continued to sell like hotcakes. Some automakers reported YoY declines in EV sales, but the lackluster results appeared to be due at least in part to standard model-year changeovers.

“The March and April sales surges have the potential to set up for future volatility; within the next three months, automakers will have to contend with new inventory and production levels subjected to tariffs, in addition to volatile economic conditions,” Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement.

Keep reading here.—JG

April was a busy month in the autonomous-vehicle world, with major industry players announcing high-profile partnerships, new deployments, and self-driving milestones.

Teamwork: First up, Alphabet-owned AV company Waymo and Toyota, the world’s top-selling automaker, on April 29 announced plans to team up to more quickly develop and deploy self-driving vehicle tech.

In a blog post, the companies said they plan “to combine their respective strengths to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform” and “will explore how to leverage Waymo’s autonomous technology and Toyota’s vehicle expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles.”

The announcement comes shortly after Alphabet’s CEO publicly suggested that Waymo might someday sell AVs directly to consumers.

“We share a strong sense of purpose and a common vision with Waymo in advancing safety through automated driving technology,” Hiroki Nakajima, a board member and EVP of Toyota Motor, said in a statement.

Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s co-CEO, said that the company “look[s] forward to exploring this strategic partnership, incorporating their vehicles into our ride-hailing fleet, and bringing the magic of Waymo’s autonomous driving technology to Toyota customers.”

Keep reading here.—JG