Toronto, Ontario — In this weekly electric and autonomous vehicle report, Japanese automaker, Aspark has set an electric vehicle (EV) speed record with the Aspark SP600 prototype; while Tesla claims that it has two Optimus humanoid autonomous robots in its factory.
A need for speed
Japanese automaker Aspark has set an EV speed record with the Aspark SP600 prototype vehicle, which recently hit a top speed of 438.7 km/h in driving tests.
The vehicle was made in partnership with Manifattura Automobili Torino and Bridgestone. During its test run, the Aspark SP600 lapped the test track at Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany, where it achieved its top speed of 438.7 km/h on its second attempt as captured by a Racelogic V-Box and precision GPS.
According to Autoblog, while the vehicle was designed to hit these high speeds, the automotive team needed a tire that could withstand the extreme forces. As a result, Bridgestone developed a bespoke Patenza Race tire.
Currently, while the vehicle is only a prototype and not a production vehicle, if it were to be manufactured, the Aspark SP600 would come in at a price tag upwards of three million dollars.
Optimizing optimus
According to a post from Tesla on the social media platform X, the automaker claims to have deployed two Optimus humanoid robots in its factory.
In previous updates on the autonomous tech, Tesla’s Optimus robots were reportedly still being trained using virtual reality and remote controls. However, on June 11, the company stated that the robots are operating autonomously in the factory and performing menial labour tasks.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk further stated that the Optimus robot may go on sale as early as next year at an approximate price tag of US$25,000.
