Mobility

EVs, batteries, trains, ships and the future of transport

In Mobility, ECOnews covers electric vehicles and EV batteries, e-bikes, trains and public transit, ships, aircraft and space travel. These are the innovations, infrastructure and policies changing how people and goods move by land, sea and air.

Helios Horizon electric aircraft flying during a test flight powered by solid-state batteries

A small airport in Florida was the scene of a low-key but impressive test: a manned electric plane took off using solid-state batteries capable of charging to 80% in less than 15 minutes

By ECONEWS

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July 10, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Bridge columns under construction on the Ganqimaodu to Gashuun Sukhait cross-border railway between China and Mongolia

China’s wild idea: a 1,118-mile rail bridge across the Gobi that dares gravity, sandstorms, and basic common sense

By ECONEWS

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June 22, 2026 at 10:15 AM

MV Black Marlin heavy-lift ship carrying large marine cargo on its deck during transport.

A heavy-lift ship is heading to Hobart to pick up the world’s largest battery-electric ferry for South America, and the scale point is that the vessel is about 430 feet long and built to carry around 2,100 passengers on the Argentina-Uruguay route

By ECONEWS

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June 21, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Concept map of the proposed undersea tunnel beneath the Strait of Magellan linking mainland Chile with Tierra del Fuego.

A submerged tunnel under the Strait of Magellan is gaining traction as a way to link Tierra del Fuego to the mainland, and the key update is that new analyses reportedly cut projected costs to about one-third for a roughly two-mile crossing

By ECONEWS

—

June 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Aerial view of the planned Canal Istanbul corridor, the proposed waterway linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

Turkey’s Canal Istanbul would be a 28-mile waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara

By Adrian Villellas

—

June 20, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Marion 8750 electric dragline excavator working at Estevan Mine in Saskatchewan with its massive boom and bucket

One of the world’s biggest excavators has a projected 60-year lifespan, and the twist is the scale: about 16.5 million pounds, a boom roughly 427 feet long, and 19 electric motors pushing nearly 19,830 horsepower

By ECONEWS

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June 15, 2026 at 6:10 AM

Freight train crossing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as part of Mexico’s dry canal project

A Latin American country is moving massive amounts of earth to build a “dry canal” route pitched as bigger than the Panama Canal, and what’s bold is that it’s trying to reroute global trade without digging a single lock

By ECONEWS

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June 12, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Massive ship block positioned on modular transporters inside a Korean shipyard before heavy transport.

The heaviest load ever hauled by a trailer was a roughly 16,300-ton naval block, and the 324-axle transport looks like industrial choreography designed not to crack the ground

By Adrian Villellas

—

June 11, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Trench construction at Santa Rosa border crossing in Tacna, Peru, built to organize truck traffic near Chile border.

Peru is also building a trench on its border with Chile, but for different reasons, and the simple construction doubles as a practical tool and a political message

By ECONEWS

—

June 9, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Brazilian Guarani armored vehicle crossing water with soldiers during an amphibious operation.

At about 39,700 pounds with six wheels, a V-shaped hull, and amphibious capability, Brazil’s Guaraní armored vehicle carries 11 troops across water and rough terrain, and its design shows how mobility is being modernized

By ECONEWS

—

June 1, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Hydrogen-powered turboprop aircraft taxiing on runway during AEP100 test in China.

While the world fights over oil, China just flew a 7.5-ton unmanned cargo plane powered by a megawatt-class hydrogen turboprop, climbing to 984 feet, covering 22.4 miles at 137 mph, and landing 16 minutes later with the engine running smoothly the whole way

By ECONEWS

—

May 31, 2026 at 5:00 PM

A massive center cutterhead section for a tunnel boring machine being transported on a 152-wheel specialized trailer through city streets.

It took a truck with 152 wheels to move a 302,000-pound tunnel-boring cutterhead, and the transport logistics look like an engineering project inside another engineering project

By ECONEWS

—

May 30, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Large-scale aerial view of the Dalian Jinzhouwan International Airport land reclamation site in Jinzhou Bay, China.

China is building a massive floating airport in the middle of the ocean, and the idea of a runway on water shows how far engineering goes when land runs out

By Adrian Villellas

—

May 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Winding section of Beartooth Highway crossing a mountain valley on the route toward Yellowstone National Park.

The Beartooth Highway links Montana and Wyoming near Yellowstone, and its high-altitude stretch turns a simple drive into one of America’s most dramatic roads

By Adrian Villellas

—

May 24, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Retired U.S. Navy warships and support vessels scheduled for decommissioning and recycling

The U.S. Navy loses 13 ships… and the most worrying detail is not the number, it is what it suggests about the future of the fleet

By Adrian Villellas

—

May 21, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Concept proposal for a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel beneath the Panama Canal connecting Panama City and Panamá Oeste

Panama wants a pedestrian tunnel under the Canal: it sounds crazy… until you see the plan, the numbers, and the “why now” (there is more than one reason)

By Adrian Villellas

—

May 20, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Homemade submarine called Big Black Fish built by a Chinese farmer for river diving experiments

A 60-year-old Chinese farmer spends just $700 and builds a homemade submarine capable of diving 26 feet: the craziest part is not the invention, it’s what he plans to do next

By ECONEWS

—

May 19, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Large Chinese fishing fleet moving through the East China Sea, linked to concerns over maritime pressure and ocean security.

China deploys 1,400 ships and draws a 200-mile “barrier” at sea: it looks like fishing… but the scale is so massive it smells like something else

By ECONEWS

—

May 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM

USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and USS Gridley destroyer operating near the Panama Canal during Southern Seas 2026

An aircraft carrier and a destroyer arrive in Panama on a tour that shows military muscle in one of the world’s most strategic maritime zones

By ECONEWS

—

May 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM

USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during U.S. Navy operations ahead of its planned retirement and nuclear defueling

The U.S. Navy makes a key decision about a veteran aircraft carrier that stood for decades as a symbol of American naval power

By ECONEWS

—

May 17, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Previous Next

Mobility

A small airport in Florida was the scene of a low-key but impressive test: a manned electric plane took off using solid-state batteries capable of charging to 80% in less than 15 minutes

China’s wild idea: a 1,118-mile rail bridge across the Gobi that dares gravity, sandstorms, and basic common sense

A heavy-lift ship is heading to Hobart to pick up the world’s largest battery-electric ferry for South America, and the scale point is that the vessel is about 430 feet long and built to carry around 2,100 passengers on the Argentina-Uruguay route

A submerged tunnel under the Strait of Magellan is gaining traction as a way to link Tierra del Fuego to the mainland, and the key update is that new analyses reportedly cut projected costs to about one-third for a roughly two-mile crossing

Turkey’s Canal Istanbul would be a 28-mile waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara

One of the world’s biggest excavators has a projected 60-year lifespan, and the twist is the scale: about 16.5 million pounds, a boom roughly 427 feet long, and 19 electric motors pushing nearly 19,830 horsepower

A Latin American country is moving massive amounts of earth to build a “dry canal” route pitched as bigger than the Panama Canal, and what’s bold is that it’s trying to reroute global trade without digging a single lock

The heaviest load ever hauled by a trailer was a roughly 16,300-ton naval block, and the 324-axle transport looks like industrial choreography designed not to crack the ground

Peru is also building a trench on its border with Chile, but for different reasons, and the simple construction doubles as a practical tool and a political message

At about 39,700 pounds with six wheels, a V-shaped hull, and amphibious capability, Brazil’s Guaraní armored vehicle carries 11 troops across water and rough terrain, and its design shows how mobility is being modernized

While the world fights over oil, China just flew a 7.5-ton unmanned cargo plane powered by a megawatt-class hydrogen turboprop, climbing to 984 feet, covering 22.4 miles at 137 mph, and landing 16 minutes later with the engine running smoothly the whole way

It took a truck with 152 wheels to move a 302,000-pound tunnel-boring cutterhead, and the transport logistics look like an engineering project inside another engineering project

China is building a massive floating airport in the middle of the ocean, and the idea of a runway on water shows how far engineering goes when land runs out

The Beartooth Highway links Montana and Wyoming near Yellowstone, and its high-altitude stretch turns a simple drive into one of America’s most dramatic roads

The U.S. Navy loses 13 ships… and the most worrying detail is not the number, it is what it suggests about the future of the fleet

Panama wants a pedestrian tunnel under the Canal: it sounds crazy… until you see the plan, the numbers, and the “why now” (there is more than one reason)

A 60-year-old Chinese farmer spends just $700 and builds a homemade submarine capable of diving 26 feet: the craziest part is not the invention, it’s what he plans to do next

China deploys 1,400 ships and draws a 200-mile “barrier” at sea: it looks like fishing… but the scale is so massive it smells like something else

An aircraft carrier and a destroyer arrive in Panama on a tour that shows military muscle in one of the world’s most strategic maritime zones

The U.S. Navy makes a key decision about a veteran aircraft carrier that stood for decades as a symbol of American naval power

Voyager 1 is about to become the first human-made object one light-day from Earth, and NASA says nothing aboard the spacecraft will notice when it crosses the line

The UK is funding research on a planetary sunshade of 5,000 spacecraft between Earth and the sun, and the catch is that most of the material would likely have to come from the Moon

Australia planted 14,000 native plants around the solar panels on a rooftop in its first new city in a century, and the panels outperformed a conventional roof while a rare bee moved in

A scholar studying manuscripts in the Netherlands noticed familiar words on a scrap dismissed as unremarkable, and it turned out to be a 1,700-year-old fragment of the Odyssey that likely came from a pocket edition

A microscope video said to show a child’s airway cells won Nikon’s Small World in Motion contest, then lost first place over generative AI, and 469 people signed a letter questioning what it showed

Some Norwegian salmon are eating poultry by-products people don’t eat, and their producer says that could cut its feed’s carbon footprint by up to 16 percent, but wild fish in the recipe complicate the story

Poland is boring a Carpathian road tunnel with a 4,400-ton machine, and methane seeping from test wells forced engineers to refit it for potentially explosive air

Mobility

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