2 . How to charge an electric vehicle (EV) is one of the biggest concerns people have when working out whether going electric is right for them.

It is true that sometimes gaining access to reliable charging can seem a bit tricky.     1    

First, download an app with a comprehensive map of the public charging points showing their locations, how powerful they are, and whether they’re working. All this is vital information because, even if you have public charging points nearby, you will need alternatives in case they’re in use.    2    

A growing number of property owners are renting out their charging points and drive ways to other local EV drivers when they’re not using them.    3     Thus, your car gets charged, the owners make money, and emissions are reduced.

    4       For example, when your car is running out of juice, you’d just pull up to a battery-change station from your car brand and sit in the car while a fully charged unit is changed in. The Chinese EV brand Nio does this, but isn’t available in the UK as yet.

For now, if charging access remains difficult for you, it’s still possible to go electric-in part.    5     Many hybrid (混合) cars are now good for 50 miles of electric running before you need to use the engine. So, if most of your driving is local, you might only need to find a charger once or twice a week, while you have the backup of a fuel engine for long journeys.

5 . In Switzerland, an ambitious proposal could see the construction of an expansive underground network through which self-driving pods (吊舱) would transport goods across the country.

The project, called Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), is intended to reduce the reliance on trucks for moving cargo. Global demand for freight (货物) transportation is growing, just as much of the world is seeing a shortage of truck drivers. Meanwhile, higher fuel prices have made road transportation more expensive, while transporting freight by road accounts for around 6% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

If built, the network would stretch roughly 500 kilometers from Geneva in the west of Switzerland to St. Gallen in the northeast, and be completed around 2045. The network of tunnels will be 40 to 80 meters below ground and the autonomous pods will drive along three lanes at around 30 kilometers per hour. And the cargo will be loaded and unloaded at designated hubs (枢纽) employing lifts to take goods to and from the surface.

The project was approved by the Swiss government in 2021. Although there’s a long way to go before construction can begin, earlier in 2023 CST began its preliminary work in the field — exploratory drilling along the Härkingen-Niederbipp route.

The biggest challenge for CST will be the expense. CST estimates that it will cost around 30 billion Swiss Francs ($34 billion) for the entire network. The project will be entirely privately funded, with investors including Credit Suisse, Coop, and Siemens. Although a huge amount of funding still needs to be found, much of the technology for the automation and operation of the network already exists. Another key challenge is working out how to transport freight above ground from the tunnels to stores in cities — without adding to road traffic.

Despite all the hurdles, Patrik Aellig, head of communication for CST, remains optimistic. CST is “at the forefront” of underground freight transport.