Imagine a race car so fast it leaves the current Formula 1 vehicle in the dust. That’s the Gen3 Evo Formula E race car, the pinnacle of electric racing technology. With the ability to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in a blistering 1.82 seconds, this machine isn’t just setting new records; it’s shattering our expectations of what electric vehicles (EVs) can do.

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A new era of performance

The Gen3 Evo isn’t just about raw speed. It’s a testament to the incredible advancements in EV technology, boasting a performance gain of approximately 2% from its predecessor. This translates to a qualifying lap around the Monaco circuit that’s nearly two seconds faster.

The secret? A combination of all-wheel drive (AWD) that’s available during the most intense moments of the race, an aggressive body kit for improved aerodynamics and Hankook iON tires that offer 5%-10% more grip using 35% recycled materials.

Gen3 Evo Formula E race car (Envision Racing) (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Sustainability at its core

But speed is only part of the story. The Gen3 Evo is the world’s only net-zero carbon race car in the first net-zero carbon sport. It’s not just racing; it’s racing with a conscience. The regenerative braking system is so efficient that it generates nearly 50% of the energy needed for a race during the race itself. With a motor efficiency of over 90% compared to the roughly 50% of internal combustion engines, the Gen3 Evo is all about efficiency.

Gen3 Evo Formula E race car (Envision Racing) (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Innovation for the future

The technological innovations don’t stop there. Formula E designed the Gen3 Evo with the future in mind, featuring ultra-fast charging capabilities that allow for a 30-second 600 kW high-speed charge mid-race. The power train and software engineering are continuously optimized, ensuring the car remains at the forefront of electric racing technology.

Envision Racing clinched the title of Formula E World Champions, winning the 2022-2023 season. This victory was particularly notable as it marked the debut of the GEN3 car, showcasing Envision Racing’s exceptional adaptability to cutting-edge technology in Formula E. As they gear up for the upcoming season, the team is diligently preparing to continue their success with the GEN3 Evo, aiming to set a new standard in electric motorsport excellence.

Gen3 Evo Formula E race car (Envision Racing) (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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From track to road

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Gen3 Evo is its potential impact on everyday transportation. With a track-to-road transfer time of around 18 months, the innovations seen in the Gen3 Evo will soon make their way into the consumer market, accelerating the transition to zero-emission transportation. The Gen3 Evo Formula E race car proves that sustainability and high performance can go hand in hand.

Gen3 Evo Formula E race car (Envision Racing) (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Kurt’s key takeaways

The Gen3 Evo Formula E race car is more than just a speed demon. It’s a trailblazer for sustainable racing. With lightning-fast acceleration, net-zero carbon emissions and a road map for future electric vehicles, it’s a powerful symbol of what’s possible when performance and environmental consciousness collide.

How might the Gen3 Evo Formula E car’s breakthroughs in electric vehicle technology influence your personal choices in transportation? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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iPhone users without a penchant for jailbreaking can finally enjoy the blocky polygons and shifty textures of the original PlayStation with Gamma, a free PS1 emulator that hit the iOS App Store last night. Gamma comes courtesy of developer ZodTTD, which has been creating emulators for the iPhone since the earliest days of third-party iOS apps.

The app has both iPhone and iPad versions with support for Bluetooth controllers and keyboards, as well as customizable on-screen controller skins. It uses Google Drive and Dropbox syncing for backing up your game files and save states (those are the snapshots you can save at any time and reload, a little like pausing your game — great for old-school games that don’t let you save any time you want). Like the Delta emulator that ruled the App Store’s top free apps list for weeks before being unseated by free donuts, the app will also go grab game cover artwork for you automatically.

The default skin for landscape orientation is mostly transparent and hard to see, though, so you’ll want to replace that when you can.

Thankfully, Gamma doesn’t require you to go find any BIOS files to run PS1 games. That said, I had trouble running the first two games I tried — NASCAR 98 and Shrek Treasure Hunt. But that may have just been the game files I was using, as I could run Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee just fine. Third time’s the charm, right?

According to Gamma’s App Store page, it collects identifiers that can be used to track you, and may collect location and usage data. For what it’s worth, the app didn’t trigger a location data access request for me, nor did it prompt me for tracking permission (though it did do so for my colleague, Sean Hollister).

Benjamin Stark, aka ZodTTD, has been around the block. Stark pointed out to The Verge via email that Delta developer Riley Testut’s first iOS emulator, GBA4iOS, borrowed code from an emulator Stark had made called gpSPhone (something Testut wrote about in 2013). But even that app, Stark said, was based (with permission, he added) on gpSP, an Android emulator created by a developer called Exophase.

That tradition continues with Gamma, which Testut told The Verge via email is “based off Delta’s codebase (excluding the actual PSX core),” adding that “ZodTTD has my full permission to do that.” Testut said Stark is “the reason I started developing emulators in the first place.”

Update May 12th, 11:36AM ET: Added additional context and details shared by Gamma developer Benjamin Stark.

Update May 12th, 2:10PM ET: Added comment from Delta developer Riley Testut.

The solar storms that have been wowing people with the Northern Lights across the United States the last two nights have also been disrupting GPS satellites, crippling some Midwest farmers’ operations, reports 404 Media. The issues have forced many to stop planting just as a crucial planting deadline for corn farmers approaches.

The storms reportedly knocked “some GPS systems” offline temporarily, which messed with the accuracy of “Real-Time Kinematic” (RTK) systems. Tractors from John Deere and other brands use RTK for “centimeter-level positional accuracy” when carrying out farming work like crop-planting or fertilizing, 404 Media writes.

The “extremely compromised” systems caused “drastic shifts in the field and even some heading changes” for those who continued planting during the outages, according to a warning from Kansas and Nebraska John Deere dealer Landmark Implement over the weekend. Landmark said that planted rows won’t be where AutoPath, a tractor guidance system, thinks they are later when it’s time to tend to them, and that it could be difficult or impossible to use it in fields that were planted while GPS systems were compromised.

While the solar storms, which are some of the worst to have hit the Earth in over two decades according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are expected to subside soon, it comes at a critical time for corn crops. Willie Cade of right-to-repair advocate group Repair.org told 404 Media that May 15th “is a critical date to get corn planted,” calling it “huge” if corn farmers can’t get their crops planted by then.

Organic farmer Tom Schwarz, who was also quoted in the story, said the solar storms halted their operations, and that now the weather forecast threatens to put off planting even further. His farm and others like it use RTK systems to plant crops right up to the edge of the lanes tractors use to drive between them, and if GPS was inaccurate while planting happens, they risk destroying crops later, because human drivers “can’t steer fast enough or well enough” to keep tractors between the rows.

On a broad scale, the farming that’s done today is heavily reliant on high-tech, often heavily automated tractors and other equipment. When they fail, farmers often have no recourse because the entire life cycle of their crops is wrapped up in the tech. That reliance is part of why there’s so much momentum behind right-to-repair laws now, as farmers want to be able to fix their tractors when they break, rather than be beholden to manufacturers for it.

Geomagnetic storms like the ones affecting farmers this weekend are created when plasma and magnetized particles are flung out of the sun in what’s called coronal mass ejections. The NOAA rates them on an increasingly severe scale from G1 to G5. The storm that’s been hitting the Earth the last couple of days has reached G5.

The NOAA says “severe to extreme” solar storms of G4 or higher could occur again today. So far, the storms haven’t led to widespread reports of solar storm-related disruptions, though Starlink has experienced some “degraded performance,” as Reuters writes, while some on Reddit reported issues with flight systems or HAM radio transmissions.