Battery Swaps, Pipeline Explosions & Ethiopia's EV Gamble

Record-breaking EV milestones, the hidden dangers of fossil fuel crime, and a real-world test of what happens when a country bans new gas cars. In China, Nio pulled off an astonishing 175,000 battery swaps in a single day during the Lunar New Year travel rush — about two swaps every second — with drivers in and out in three to five minutes. It's a massive stress test that shows how battery swapping could compete with, or even outperform, traditional refueling for convenience and scale.

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We also examine how fuel theft in Mexico has evolved from small-time pipeline tapping into a billion-dollar criminal enterprise. Cartels now make enormous profits stealing oil and gas, and the consequences can be deadly. The 2019 pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, which killed at least 137 people, remains one of the most tragic examples of how dangerous this underground economy can be. What began decades ago as localized "Robin Hood" style fuel theft has grown into an industrialized operation that in some regions rivals drug trafficking in profitability.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's 2024 ban on new combustion car sales is turning out to be less dramatic than critics predicted — and more effective. The move was driven largely by economics, as the country had been spending billions annually on refined fuel imports. With major hydropower expansion, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia now has excess clean electricity, growing EV adoption, and dramatically lower monthly fueling costs for drivers.

Plus, South Dakota approves its largest wind farm yet, Waymo surpasses 200 million autonomous miles, France sets a new fusion runtime record, Tesla tops a French reliability study, and a pilot project proves portable solar panels can charge an EV in the sub-Arctic.

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